The Taylorville Kiwanis Club heard a local agriculture entrepreneur at their weekly meeting on Tuesday at the Taylorville Moose Lodge.
Program speaker was Mel Repscher, owner of Big “M” Farms outside of Taylorville. Repscher told Kiwanis members that his business began in 1985 to diversify his farm, with the name derived from all the children’s first names starting with the Letter M.
He added that he’s the fifth generation farmer on the Sesquicentennial farm. His great grandfather was a Blacksmith in Clarksdale.
Repscher told the Kiwanis Club that Big “M” Farms grows a variety of vegetables that are sold at his location each year, including asparagus, rhubarb, strawberries, sweet corn, tomatoes, and much more. The farm employs between 12 and 20 local youth to weed and pick the crops each summer.
He also said they recently added a 30-by-96-foot greenhouse, and that Big “M” Farms is a mainstay and original member of the Farmers Market each Saturday on the Taylorville square.
Repscher shared that another part of diversifying his farm is doing custom baling of up to 500 acres of hay each year, and a fall pumpkin patch that includes hayrack rides.
Repscher began a manufacturing division in 1995, making the “A-MAZE-ING Heat” cornburner furnace. He even has a wind turbine erected in 2001 that produces 600-dollars a month.
The Taylorville Kiwanis Club is part of a global organization of volunteers dedicated to improving the world one child and one community at a time. Weekly meetings are held Tuesdays at noon at the Taylorville Moose Lodge. For information on the club, go to taylorvillekiwanis.com.
